Det danske Fredsakademi

Kronologi over fredssagen og international politik 29. september 2012 / Timeline September 29, 2012

28. September 2012, 30. September 2012

09/29/2012
Noam Chomsky Calls For Immediate Humanitarian Assistance For Syrian Refugees
Friday, September 28th, 2012: Professor Noam Chomsky, world renowned linguist, writer and political activist, released an open letter this week calling for immediate humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees, beginning the letter by quoting his friend, the late Howard Zinn: “war in our time is always indiscriminate, a war against innocents, a war against children.”
In the letter he writes: “The UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that so far more than 200,000 people ­Syrians, Palestinians and Iraqis have fled. Most are living of people living in makeshift camps along Syria’s border. Half of them are children. Some arrive alone, having lost both parents. Many are sick or injured. All of the children are traumatized.”
Prof. Chomsky is asking people to support the humanitarian aid fundraising campaign of the US nonprofit, the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). Noam Chomsky is a founding advisor and supporter of the Middle East Children's Alliance and has worked with them for almost 25 years, declaring, “I have come to count on MECA to come to the aid of children in the Middle East who are facing the most dire circumstances. I know that the Director Barbara Lubin, Associate Director Ziad Abbas, and other staff know how to reach people in the camps who are working directly with the children. That’s why I’m giving MECA my support in this crisis. And I’m asking you to join me. “
The Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) is a non-profit organization working for the rights of children in the Middle East by sending humanitarian aid, supporting projects for children and educating North American and international communities about the effects of the US foreign policy on children in the region.
MECA is coordinating an aid shipment by talking directly with doctors, nurses and social workers in Jordan and Lebanon to find out what newly -arrived families need that they are not getting from large aid agencies. MECA has received a list of medicines and medical supplies that are needed immediately and are conducting an emergency fundraising campaign to increase the size and impact of the aid shipment.

09/29/2012
Italians Protest Weapons Shipments to Israel
- http://warisacrime.org/content/italians-protest-weapons-shipments-israel
- http://nessunm346xisraele.blogspot.it
On Saturday, October 13, 2012, a national demonstration will be held in Varese, Italy, where most of the country's military aircraft production is located, to denounce the weapons industry, in particular the sale of 30 M-346 trainer jets to Israel. The protest will take place at the Alenia Aermacchi headquarters, manufacturers of the M-346 and part of Finmeccanica Group, one of the world's top weapons producers.
The M-346, defined as a "technologically advanced trainer jet," is in fact designed to be armed with missiles or bombs. These weapons will undoubtedly be "tested" first and foremost on Palestinians. As a trainer jet, the M-346 is designed to prepare fighter pilots in the use of the most "technologically sophisticated" attack aircraft, such as the "netcentric" and "invisible" F-35 from US weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Israel has signed on to purchase 19 F-35 fighter jets, with an option for 56, and Italy is also unfortunately in line to purchase the combat aircraft for future wars. Recently, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman stopped off at Alenia Aermacchi headquarters near Varese during his semi-secret tour of Italy, which was soon followed by the signing of the M-346 contract.
Local and national politicians, from center-left to center-right, have promoted the deal, conveniently “overlooking” the December 2008 - January 2009 “Operation Cast Lead", which saw Israel’s "air power" rain down on the unarmed civilian Palestinian population, killing 1400, of which 400 children. A brutal military action, in which Israel used new unknown weapons as well as those already prohibited by international conventions (white phosphorus, DIME bombs, depleted uranium) and committed war crimes and crimes against humanity as documented in the UN "Goldstone Report".
In addition to halting the sale of M-346 jets to Israel, the demands of the demonstration include suspension of the military cooperation agreement between Italy and Israel signed in 2005.
In recent years, local groups in Varese have denounced the chronic dependence of their territory on war production, organizing assemblies and protests against Agusta Westland (helicopters) and Alenia Aermacchi (aircraft) and, more recently, the F-35.
The demonstration also calls on workers at AleniaAermacchi and all weapons producers to rejects employment based threats and to work to convert factories from producing instruments of death to socially beneficial and environmentally friendly products.
Moreover, local groups have called this national demonstration in opposition to the practice of war, which has intensified over the last 20 years, where military action is called "peace", justified as an instrument of "preventive security" and to "export democracy", and even defined as "humanitarian."
"Humanitarian war" is instead an oxymoron: war causes nothing but death, injuries, destruction, generating hatred, resentment and revenge, it is the most inhumane act imaginable.
There will never be peace as long as the most profitable industry is that of producing weapons and instruments of death. Participants include Father Alex Zanotelli, Prof. Massimo De Santi, Prof. Mauro Cristaldi, dr Mario Agostinelli and former Vice President of European Parliament Luisi Morgantini.
Endorsements and statements of support can be sent to: nessunm346xisraele@gmail.com
Varese organizing committee:
- http://nessunm346xisraele.blogspot.it/
- http://www.facebook.com/manifestazioneaermacchi.venegono

09/29/2012
Why Veterans Kill Themselves
By Luke Hiken and Marti Hiken
Progressive Avenues - www.progressiveavenues.org
Recent figures indicate that for every soldier killed in Afghanistan and Iraq, 25 veterans commit suicide upon their return to the U.S. That is an astonishing statistic! How can this be?
In 1971, Stanford University conducted a prison experiment to determine what the effects of imprisonment were on a selected group of students. One half of the students were chosen to act as prison guards while the other half were to be criminals convicted of serious crimes. The University had to bring the experiment to an abrupt end when it was discovered that the “prison guards” were becoming sadistic, violent oppressors, and the “criminals” were responding to the conditions of imprisonment in dangerously rebellious ways. The experiment underscored what happens to average, educated people, when they are treated without respect, and without protections. More importantly, it demonstrated the catastrophic effect that unrestrained authority, violence and corruption had on those entrusted with the roles of caretakers and guards.[1]
We are witnessing a similar breakdown of morality and judgment among U.S. troops presently carrying out our imperialist wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and elsewhere throughout the Middle East. “The Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology” recently issued the report that for every soldier who was killed in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East over the last 10 years, 25 more veterans have committed suicide.[2] Whether or not these suicide attempts are a result of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), mental health breakdowns, or the natural consequences of having good “soldiers” turn into murdering monsters because of the conditions they are placed under (i.e. the Stanford experiment), is debatable. Yet, what is more at issue here is the fact that over a ½ million soldiers and mercenaries (i.e. “civilian contractors”) have returned home to our communities from the Middle East, and the Pentagon opines that approximately 1/3 of them suffer from some form of PTSD.
What these statistics highlight, is the moral depravity resulting from all aspects of our involvement in the Middle East, and the impact our colonial assaults have, not only on the defenseless populations we have chosen to destroy, but also on the perpetrators of those assaults as well. It is impossible for soldiers to participate in unjustified mass murder, and not be scarred by it. One would have thought that our experiences in Vietnam would have provided a clue as to the disastrous results that unjustified wars have on the men and women asked to fight in them. But no, our Pentagon and “misleaders,” have learned nothing from Vietnam, the Russian and French failures in Afghanistan, or our deceitful and shameful attack on Iraq. These “misleaders” are unaffected by the cruelty and viciousness of their overseas forays, while many engaged in these wars will spend their days contemplating killing themselves.
Recent studies conducted by NYU and Stanford have documented the fact that hundreds more civilians have been killed by the U.S. drone attacks than the Pentagon acknowledges.[3] Yet some bull-headed bureaucrat in the Defense Department, named John Brennan, has the audacity to explain to Obama that these studies are inaccurate, and that our “pinpoint” accuracy with drones is only killing terrorists, and any unwarranted deaths are “extremely rare.” Are these pathologically absurd comments by Brennan designed to insulate Obama from his slaughter of hundreds of innocent women and children identified in the studies, or do we assume that Obama is even more of a scoundrel than we imagined, for setting up a clown like Brennan to rubber stamp the illegal use of drones?
A nation that murders civilians indiscriminately, wages wars of aggression against defenseless nations, and lies to its own people about our reasons for destroying governments around the world is not only subjecting its soldiers to resulting suicidal behavior, but destroying the moral integrity of the entire nation as well. At every sporting event where we see jet planes and U.S. flags displayed for purposes of propagandizing the American people to put up with our international war crimes, most of the people watching hang their heads in shame over the decline of what was once a great nation.
The Stanford prison experiment was a microcosm of what is happening to the U.S. worldwide. It demonstrates what happens to citizens who become international killers and to the nation that pays them to do so.
Marti Hiken is the director of Progressive Avenues. She is the former Associate Director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and former chair of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force. She can be contacted at info@progressiveavenues.org, 415-702-9682.
Luke Hiken is an attorney who has engaged in the practice of criminal, military, immigration, and appellate law.
The Progressive Avenues website, www.progressiveavenues.org, is regularly updated in the “What’s Added, What’s New” link on the Home page, at http://www.progressiveavenues.org/Whats_New_Added.html
FOOTNOTES
(1) The Stanford Prison Experiment - A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment Conducted at Stanford University,
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
“The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted at Stanford University from August 14 to August 20 of 1971 by a team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. It was funded by the US Office of Naval Research and was of interest to both the US Navy and Marine Corps as an investigation into the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners.
Twenty-four male students out of 75 were selected to take on randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison situated in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. The participants adapted to their roles well beyond Zimbardo's expectations, as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture. Many of the prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, at the request of the guards, readily harassed other prisoners who attempted to prevent it. The experiment even affected Zimbardo himself, who, in his role as the superintendent, permitted the abuse to continue. Two of the prisoners quit the experiment early and the entire experiment was abruptly stopped after only six days. Certain portions of the experiment were filmed and excerpts of footage are publicly available.”
(2) Press TV, http://www.presstv.ir/detail/236543.html
“According to a New York Times article published on April 14, an American soldier dies every day and a half, on average, in Iraq or Afghanistan while veterans kill themselves at a rate of one every 80 minutes.
“The article also said more than 6,500 veteran suicides are logged every year -- more than the total number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan and Iraq combined since those wars began.”
(3) Zucchino, David, Drone Strikes in Pakistan have Killed many Civilians, Study Says,” LA Times, latimes.com, 9-24-12
- http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/24/world/la-fg-drone-study-20120925

09/29/2012

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